Retrieval
by Nyrgoalie
Summary: Genin survival training turns into much more...I don't know what to say to get you to read this.
1. Retrieval1

Retrieval 

Chapter 1

Disclaimer:  I don't own Naruto, or any of its characters.  If I did, I would be one rich fellow, and probably wouldn't be wasting my time writing a fan fiction about something I already owned.  

The cold wind and deafening rain howled through the lifeless house filled with the stench of blood.  Two bodies lay on the ground, cold, unmoving.  A demonic silhouette hung above the corpses, getting closer, closer, closer…

"Noooooooo!" screamed Sasuke as he sprung up from his bed. He had been having nightmares ever since his the slaying of his entire clan, and the gloomy weather outside had only fueled the realism of this dream. The same dream he had been having since _that _night.

            "These damned dreams_,_" he thought as he rose out of his bed to get ready for another day of preparation.  To him, every day was preparation.  Not preparation to become a Chuunin, not preparation to become a Jounin.  The thing that dominated his thoughts was killing the slayer of his clan.  His brother, Uchiha Itachi.  However, some different objectives had popped into his vengeful mind. They were Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, and even though they were very far less on his priority list, he still didn't like to admit it.  

            Thinking of his horrific past, Sasuke left his abode to meet with his team.

  


            "Good morning Sasuke," spoke Sakura in an ever-so-cheerful voice. She had known of him since her early childhood, but only started to get to know him when they were placed on a team together.  Nevertheless, her feelings for him had never faltered.  He was still the one who gave her the most joy to think about, and he was still the one who gave her the most heartbreak when he ignored her.

            "He has started to soften up to me a bit more," she thought to herself.  "Pretty soon he will say yes to take me on a date, and then we can become boyfriend and girlfriend!"  Sakura's romantic daydreams would never fail, and Sasuke even letting her a bit closer didn't help matters at all.

            "Hey," was all that Sasuke could manage to utter.  He was far too busy concentrating on his inner-demons to acknowledge her further, and her comments jumped him out of his thoughts and on to new ones.  

            "All he ever gives are one-word replies to me," thought the girl with the bright pink hair. "I suppose it's better than nothing though." Even after her daydreams he would let her down.  She had thought that after opening up more to her as he had done he would start to show some enthusiasm when talking to her.  "On the other hand, he used to not talk at all, so it was an improvement," she supposed with a sense of sadness.

            On the inside Sasuke knew he hurt her more than anyone else.  He ignored her…he didn't provide her with simple company, even after she and Naruto had saved him from his own loneliness.  They were the only people he had considered friends, although he never let them or anyone else know it.  "It will be hard enough for me to face my brother as it is, I can't let anyone, even them, distract me from my goals," was what he kept telling himself every day as vindication for the lack of affection he showed them.

            Meanwhile, Naruto felt distraught.  Even after he risked his life for her against Gaara, she still paid him no attention.  She hadn't even bothered to greet him.  Usually he wouldn't have cared about such things, and would just push his own greeting onto her.  But today was different. He thought after doing such things for her she would at least acknowledge him.  "She ha….."

            His thoughts were stopped abruptly by two words that came from so close, yet they seemed like an eternity away.

            "Hi Naruto," was all Sakura needed to say, and Naruto was back to his old self again.

            "Good morning Sakura!" he said in a very Naruto-esque manner. "At this rate, I will become Hokage and get a date with Sakura," he excitedly contemplated, but only for a very short time.  Being Naruto, his mind ventured off onto things such as whether or not becoming Hokage gives a lifetime supply of ramen.

            After two hours of Sakura swooning over Sasuke, Naruto swooning over Sakura, and Sasuke thinking about the murder of his clan, their teacher, Kakashi, decided to grace them with his presence.

            "You're late Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed the duo of Sakura and Naruto.  Not that they had actually expected him to be on time, but they sort of enjoyed his cockamamie excuses.

            "Good morning, guys.  Sorry for being late, but the Sun came up 3 minutes late today so I took it as a bad omen and slept in." Kakashi was a very superstitious person it seemed.

            "Due to the recent disruption that occurred in the village, we haven't had very many clients lined up.  Therefore, we don't have a mission to accomplish today, and we probably won't have one for a while.  That's why all the Jounin teachers got together and came up with another survival training exercise.  This time, however, you will be in a competition with 2 other groups.  The two teams you will be up against are…team 8 and team 10.  Anyway, the main purpose of this exercise will be to collect as many flags from the other teams as possible.  They will be trying to collect yours as well, of course," the teacher informed them.

            "So it's like an Easter egg hunt?  I love those!" stated Naruto.  Naruto never did have a keen eye for the obvious.

            "Well not exactly," explained Kakashi. "Not only will you be trying to collect their flags, but you will also have to defend yours as well.  Therefore, you will have to act as a team to go on the offensive or defensive depending on the situation."

            "I knew that from the beginning. Hell yea!" Sakura's inner self shouted on the inside. 

            "Well, we will be doing this training in the area known as the Underground Caverns. The light there is very minimal so you will have to rely on your other senses much more than usual, hence the name.  Also, you will have to be in there for 5 straight days, alone with your group," Kakashi continued.

            "Hey, hey.  I'm already a really strong ninja, I don't need to be doing a stupid game like this," Naruto stated.  Naruto always had a complaint about training exercises that he thought lowered his self-worth.

            Sasuke took note of this and silently agreed with it.  He failed to see how such a childish drill would ever give him enough power to defeat his brother.  The last time he had seen his brother, he was beaten down disgracefully.  He needed _real_ training, not something a new trainee would do. 

            "Oh, I forgot to mention.  These caverns are where they held the Chuunin exam a few years ago.  No one has ever been to the end of them.  Ever.  Plus, the winner gets a free all you can eat ramen dinner," Kakashi notified as nonchalantly as possible, while turning his head to the top left.

            "Lets do it!" exclaimed Naruto.  He was not one to pass up a challenge, and he was definitely not one to pass up a chance at free ramen.

            Sasuke just confidently smirked as he always did when a challenge presented itself.  He knew that it wasn't enough training to defeat Itachi, but this exercise definitely wouldn't be a pushover either. He would partake in this exercise, and he would get past it without problems.  

            Sakura, meanwhile, was only thinking about what it would be like to spend 5 days in a cold, damp cavern with Sasuke.  She made it a point to make sure she wouldn't be a burden to Sasuke and Naruto, but that didn't mean she still couldn't enjoy being with Sasuke!  Hell, she didn't even mind the fact that Naruto would be there.  In fact, she had started to grow fond of his goofy self.

            "Well guys, the training will start tomorrow at 8.  I won't see you until after it is over, but you will have this," he revealed as he handed Sasuke a sleek, small 2-way radio.  "This is just in case you guys get lost or are in dire need of assistance.  I will have mine on at all times, and will contact you once a day to make sure you are alright. Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow," he finished with a smile.  Even with his mask, all three of the young ninjas could tell that he was showing them affection.  With that, everyone ventured home, preparing for the new exercise.  

  


Well this is my first fanfic ever…and I'm telling you now that it is not yaoi, but I haven't really figured out what is gonna happen yet hehe…I kinda write on the spur of the moment all the time without thinking about it soo…Anyways, a review or two would be greatly appreciated, and I'm in the  progress of typing chapter two…well…not really but I already have it written I just need to type it, so I'll get around to that sometime soon.


	2. Retrieval2

Chapter 2

Sakura lay in the newly created shelter that her teammates, Sasuke and Naruto had set up.        

            "Sasuke, I'm cold," she whimpered as she shivered for effect.  Any normal person could tell that she hadn't really been too cold at all, she just didn't want to pass up a chance to get close to Sasuke.

            "I sure wish Sasuke would ask me to come snuggle up with him, but he'll never do something like that," she dejectedly thought.  She had hugged him a few times before, and while he didn't fight it, she was definitely the instigator of those occurrences.

            "Oh Sakura.  Here, come snuggle up with me," replied Sasuke with a sly grin on his face.  Of course Sakura didn't refuse, and slowly crept down next Sasuke.  As she lay next to him, she gazed into the dark abyss' that were his eyes.

            "Sakura, you are so beautiful in the dark," he announced with a romantic and longing tone.  He slowly moved his lips closer to hers, and she followed suit.  She shut her eyes…and…

            "Sakura! Get up, you have to get ready for your training exercise," shouted a familiar voice, though at that moment Sakura could have mistaken it for the devil.

            "Yes, _mother_," Sakura retorted very irritably.  She slowly crept out of bed still trying to put together the lingering thoughts of her dream

            After making sure she had all her ninja tools packed, she set off for the Underground Caverns.

  


            Sakura hurriedly rushed to the Underground Caverns, and arrived only a few minutes past 8.  She hadn't worried too much about her tardiness, as she knew her sensei would be fashionably late anyway.

            "Sorry for being late, but I was having a nice dream and accidentally slept in," Sakura explained with a slight blush showing up on her face as she continued to remember how nice it was.

            A dream. Sasuke had also had a dream, although it was anything but nice.  He wished every single day that his dreams would subside; that he would stop having to live through hell every single night.  Wishes had a funny way of not coming true, at least for him.

            Naruto had noticed it first.  Sasuke's expression had gone from apathetic to excessively angry and hurt in a matter of seconds. Naruto tilted his head slightly trying not to attract Sasuke's attention and whispered to Sakura, "Hey, umm…is Sasuke alright?"  Sakura had been caught too busy in her own little world to notice.

            "Now that you mention it…Hey Sasuke, are you ok? Was it…something I said?" Sakura questioned very genuinely and softly.

            Sasuke, however, wasn't paying attention.  In fact, he had stopped listening the moment the term "dream" was brought into the conversation.  Usually, he was able to hold back his feelings, but being forced to remember his dream that forced him to relive his horrific past had set him off.  Remembering the motionless bodies of his parents uncaringly stacked made Sasuke's blood boil.  He _had_ to kill that man.  He _had_ to kill his brother.  He was an avenger.

            Filled with anger and hurt, the only thing Sasuke could do was release it.  His right arm cocked back and was about to obliterate a small tree before suddenly it couldn't go any farther.

            "I would save that energy for inside.  You're going to need it," Kakashi informed him with one hand holding Sasuke's arm and the other holding "Come, Come Paradise."  The teacher always arrived late, but somehow whenever he was really needed he turned up right on time.  Sasuke glanced at his teacher before giving a "…whatever" and returning to his previously pococurante state.

            "Well guys, all that I can say is good luck.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  Turn the radio on at 6 o'clock every night. I will contact you then every day, and if it isn't on we might have to come get you. Use the clock on the radio and…be careful guys," Kakashi explained as he whipped out "Come, Come Paradise" again.

            "See ya later Kakashi-sensei.  And you better not use any of your money these days, pretty soon you're gonna be paying for my ramen," Naruto boasted excitedly.

            "I don't know if they actually know how hard this may be…after all, they did stop holding the chuunin exam there for a reason, although they don't know it," Kakashi thought worriedly. 

            Any of his worries were null by then however, as he watched trio step into the entrance of the caverns. Immediately, Sasuke could sense the death that had occurred within.

            "Be careful...this place seems...odd," was all he said, in an almost monotone voice. He always warned them about such things out of care, but he didn't want them to notice so he would always put on a mask and act like he didn't.  He also knew that even though Sakura was the weakest out of the group, it would probably be Naruto who got into trouble in a place like this.  There were many traps around, and Naruto being the clumsy person he was, would probably set off a fair share of them.

            "I don't need you telling me to be careful," Naruto stated bluntly.  Naruto still hated Sasuke's arrogant ways, and he found it hard for Sasuke to be arrogant even after Naruto had saved both him and Sakura from the wrath of Gaara.  He knew it would probably get Sasuke mad, and even though he respected Sasuke as a friend, he wasn't about to take directions that would lower his ego.  "I was the one who fought Gaara off while you were the one lying on the ground Sasuke.  I don't need to take directions from you."

            Sasuke cocked his head to the side and stared at Naruto with the angry-white-eyes effect.  This subsided quickly, as Sasuke remembered power that Naruto had unleashed.  He was able to defeat that _monster_.  He was sure Gaara would kill Naruto, especially after he had transformed into that gigantic badger. It was then that he saw Naruto's true power, and wondered if he would ever be able to have strength like that. 

            Sakura meanwhile was wondering what kind of power Naruto really had.  She had been sure that it was Sasuke who saved her from the grip of sand, and even when he told her it was Naruto she still didn't fully believe it.  She had been unconscious the whole time, so the likely candidate was Sasuke.  She couldn't believe Naruto would have powers to destroy that _thing_, especially after Sasuke could do nothing. It was only when he fully explained it that she understood that Naruto risked his life for her, and that is where his strength arose from.

She always acknowledged Sasuke, and always lectured Naruto, but she was going to try her hardest to treat Naruto better.  She gained a great respect for Naruto, so much that she even enjoyed his company.  While it wasn't the same as Sasuke, she would always like to have Naruto around.  Her thoughts were stopped by the sound of a dozen kunai flying towards Naruto.  Sasuke was obviously waiting for Naruto to set off a trap, as he was right there to pull Naruto out of the way.  

            "You total moron," Sasuke sighed with a shake of his head.  After nearly two hours of running through the caverns and Naruto setting off multiple traps, the trio reached the destination of their base.  

            "Ahh finally," Sakura felt very relieved that had reached the base. They called it the base, but actually it was nothing more than a dark, dank cavern, basically like the whole area. She knew she wanted to be strong enough to protect herself, but she still didn't have nearly the same amount of stamina that Naruto and Sasuke had.  She just had to rest for a bit.

            Sasuke, on the other hand, knew they all wouldn't be able to rest.  They still had to set up traps and get oriented with their surroundings.  They didn't have any water or food, so they would have to find some soon.  Plus, they didn't know when the other groups would come try and take their flags, so they had to be ready.  He also knew that Sakura wouldn't be able to do anything for a while, and he definitely didn't want to push her.  

            "I'm going to go find some water," he announced.  "You two stay here and rest for a bit, I'll be back in a bit"

            While Naruto was kind of peeved that Sasuke was leaving him behind, he also was being left behind with Sakura, so he didn't mind too much.

            Sakura was sitting calmly, still with a slight pant to her breath.  Was she really that important to Naruto she wondered? She knew that he liked her, he had always said so and always asked her to come out with him.  However, she had never noticed just how much she meant to him, and to be honest, she was flattered.

            "Naruto…I…just want to say thank you.  Sasuke told me it was you who saved me from Gaara…so…thank you."  She spoke softly and kindly with a smile on her face.  She just kept thinking about it, and the more she thought about how much Naruto was willing to risk for her, she wanted to repay him in any way she could. 

            "Did she just thank me?" Naruto thought dumbfounded as he formed a smile on his face.  As they both sat there, wondering about each other, Sasuke returned with some drinking water and had a very puzzled look on his face.  He saw Sakura blushing shyly and saw Naruto with a large grin on his face and wondered what the hell happened.  He decided it wasn't any of his business, as he would say the same thing if he was in their position, so he let it go. "As long as they aren't in trouble," he mumbled.

            "There is a small pool of water about 2 miles or so away," he informed them as he tossed a canteen to Sakura.

            "Thank you Sasuke," she replied without looking up.  She couldn't get a hold of her feelings. "All I did was say thank you to Naruto," she thought. "Why am I blushing?" she asked herself.  She thought it would just be something to make him feel good inside…but she felt something weird inside of her as well.  "What is this I'm feeling," she pondered hopelessly. 

            Unfortunately for her, and the others, they didn't have much time for pondering.  The enemy was approaching quick, and they had yet to notice.

            Well, that's about all for this chapter…I felt it was a good time to end it.  The enemy is approaching eh?  Stay tuned to find out just who the enemy is, and if it was who the team would be expecting.  Until next time…


	3. Retrieval3

Hello to my small fan base.  That's assuming I have a fan base, which is probably a false assumption.  Regardless of that, I'd like to apologize for the change in chapter 2.  If anyone noticed, I left the basic idea of the chapter intact but changed some of the details, most importantly one regarding Naruto and Sakura.  I'll probably have something similar go on later though so don't get disheartened. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

The near pitch-black darkness enveloped the team of young ninjas.  In the lack of light, vision was limited to around 15 feet, without a flashlight or lamp of course.  Add to the darkness the uncomfortable coldness, and the unmakoutable sounds that plagued the area, and you had one eerie place.   Sasuke, being the only one of the three to be in tune to the situation, glanced at the clock on the radio.  It was very near 6:00, and Sasuke turned the radio function on, waiting for his teacher's checkup message.

Sasuke sighed slightly as he glanced in the direction of Sakura and Naruto again.  Naruto still had a wide grin on his face, and Sakura still had a slight look of bewilderment and a slight blush on hers.  "Naruto is an idiot, and he'd smile right down to the moment a kunai was at his throat.  But Sakura…she usually only gets that way around me," he thought to himself.  "Not like I care or anything," he mumbled under his voice. 

In all actuality, however, it had irked him to see Sakura act that way when he wasn't even in sight to begin with.  He knew that she cared, but he would never be able to express that he cared for her as well.  He had more important things to do in his mind.  Like revenge.  However, if he kept ignoring her the whole time, he feared she would stop worrying about him and go after someone else.  It wasn't a secret that Naruto and Lee cared for her as well, and they made it a point for her to notice.  

All three of them, sat there, heads facing the ground, thinking of each other...and ramen, in the case of one of them.

Meanwhile, in team 10's camp…..

"Shikamaru, go get some water, I'm thirsty here!" exclaimed Ino in typical haughty fashion.  "And Chouji, what are you doing eating again? You just ate some food a half an hour ago!" Chouji just looked at her peculiarly, and continued to chomp on some chips.

Shikamaru just sighed and set off in search of some drinking water. Asuma had just radioed them, so at least he didn't have to worry about that.  However, even after becoming a Chuunin, he was still the same as always.  He thought the whole training exercise was a waste of time, and would rather be playing Go or sleeping.  "Geez, I'm the one who became a Chuunin but she still bosses me around.  Women are so annoying," he complained to himself. 

Regardless of how annoying he thought this was, Shikamaru didn't fail to notice that this area would play right into his strength, and would probably give his team a large advantage.  His main, and basically his only skill is the Shadow Copy no Jutsu.  With it, he is able to stretch his own shadow and move it within other shadows to try and catch someone in his own shadow.  When caught, they would only be able to move as he did.  Seeing as how the whole area was dark and shadowy, he would be able to catch people from very far distances away, as long as he could pinpoint their location.

Unfortunately, his trek for water was halted by a loud shriek coming from the direction he had left a few minutes before.  

"Ino….damn!" he sputtered as he darted as fast as he could towards his own base.

At team 8's camp…..

            Hinata looked up in question.  Had she just heard what she thought she had?  A minute ago, she could have sworn she had heard someone scream, although she couldn't be sure.  She also couldn't be sure as to exactly how far away the noise was, because of slight echo in the caverns.

            "K-Kiba, did you just hear that noise," she questioned him.  She knew Kiba and Akamaru had a much greater sense of hearing than she did, so she would be able to tell if it was made or not. 

            After checking with Akamaru, Kiba stood up and announced, "Come on guys, we're going to grab some flags!"  He was always enthusiastic about everything, but Hinata still wanted to have her question answered.  

            "But w-what about…" she started to ask before Kiba stopped her.  " There was a scream, but it was just that Ino girl.  She was probably just freaked out by a huge bug or something.  But, if she is paying attention to that, then we have a chance to strike!  Lets go!" he exclaimed in an excited voice.

            "B-but we don't even know where they are," countered Hinata.  "How are we supposed to find the flags in the pitch black when we don't even know where their base is?"

            Kiba was about to pipe up that Akamaru would just use his nose to find them, but Shino had already started to talk. "I had my bugs scout out the area already.  Their camp is roughly about 8 miles to the east it seems," he explained.  Meanwhile, Kiba was getting annoyed.  Kiba was sure that he was the leader of the group, but sometimes he felt Shino tried to take over, although Shino could care less.  "Fine, lets go," Kiba mumbled as Akamaru followed closely behind.

            After a while of dashing and avoiding traps, they could see a faint light in the distance and one silhouette along with it.  

            "Hah it looks like they only left one person behind to watch the flags! This'll be easy!" Kiba boasted with a laugh.  "We might as well just rush in there and let him see us!  He won't be able to do anything about it!" he continued.  

            "Confucious once said, 'to go beyond is as wrong as to fall short,'" uttered Shino.  "Maybe we should just get what we need and return."

            "Don't worry, it will be fine.  We'll just tie him up and take whatever we want!  Come on Akamaru," was all Kiba said before rushing towards the silhouette.  Shino just shook his head and followed, while Hinata had a worried look on her face, still thinking about the scream.  

            In a matter of seconds the three had reached Shikamaru, but they immediately stopped as they saw the look upon his face was one of worry, but not worry for himself.

            "Sorry guys, but I'm not going to put up a fight.  Go ahead and take all the flags, I have more important things to worry about," Shikamaru stated bluntly.  When he had arrived back at his base, he had found no one there, and even after calling out for his teammates, he received no response.  

            "W-what's the matter Shikamaru," asked Hinata in a very muted voice, but one that was of pure concern.  Now that she had gotten here and found Shikamaru alone, she was even more worried.  She hadn't really known Ino or Chouji very well, but she was a very kind person and worried about everyone.

            "Well, I went to go grab some water, but while I was gone I heard a shriek coming from over here.  I hurried and came back, but no one was here…" Shikamaru answered as his gaze shifted towards something lying on the ground.  It was kind of shiny, and it had caught his attention, even in the dark.  When he bent down to pick it up, he noticed it was a bag of potato chips, yet still half full.  A frightened glaze popped onto his face.

            "This bag is still half full," he remarked, as team 8 looked at his face.  "Yeah, so what?" Kiba didn't really know Chouji, so he didn't see the significance.

            "Chouji _never_ lets food go uneaten.  Even if it gets muddy, he'll still pick it up and eat it," Shikamaru explained.  "Damn, this isn't good," he thought.  "They must have had the radio with them, so I can't get in touch with Asuma."

            "Hey, can I borrow your radio guys?" he announced after a minute of silence.  The other three looked at each other questionably, confirming to themselves that they had to let him use it.

            "S-sure you can," Hinata said with a slight smile.  She wanted to make him feel better, she knew he must be feeling horrible.  "We are going to have to go get it from our camp though.  You stay here though, just in case they come back," added Shino.  "We'll be back in about an hour, be careful."

            Four hours later, Shikamaru was still waiting at his base…

Uh oh, what's gonna happen?  To be honest, I don't know yet, so obviously neither do you readers. =) Well, I'll try my best to get the next chapter up soon.  


	4. Retrieval4

It's me again…obviously. I mean who else would be talking to you in my story?  But anyways, sorry for the delay in uploading, I didn't really have a good idea of what I wanted to happen next, so I just kinda didn't write it.  Well, now I present to you Retrieval, chapter 4.

Sasuke stopped his thoughts and stood up in the dark, facing his two teammates.  "Hey, Sakura, what time is it?" he questioned.  Sakura quickly took note of his question and went to the clock on the radio. 

"It's ten o'clock," she answered him. "Ten o'clock…that means it will be time to go to sleep soon.  I should try and get close to Sasuke now," she schemed in her head.   It was indeed getting late, and if they wanted to get up early and get some flags they should get to sleep, or so she figured.  However, Sasuke seemed to have different plans.  

"Alright, we're going to go ahead and strike now.  The other groups will most likely be sleeping or will only have one alert, so we should be able to do this easily," Sasuke informed his teammates.  But, when he gazed into their eyes, especially Sakura's, he could tell that they weren't fit for moving about.  In fact, Sakura looked like she would fall asleep any minute now.

"But…we also need to protect our own flags.  So, I'll be the striker and go grab as many flags as I can, while you two stay back and take turns guarding our own flags.  You should take turns resting though, so that we aren't all tired tomorrow," Sasuke added.  He really didn't think they needed to protect their flags at all, but he definitely wasn't going to tell Sakura that he was worried about her, so it was a convenient excuse.

Naruto was again irked by Sasuke taking the "fun" job for himself, and yet again he didn't mind to much because he was to be left with Sakura.

"Be careful Sasuke," Sakura uttered as Sasuke dashed off in a streak.  In a second he was already out of sight.  She wasn't really worried about the other teams injuring him severely, they would probably just make sure he didn't get any flags, if they could stop him in the first place.  But, these caverns were a previous location for the Chuunin exam, and they hadn't really encountered anything too troublesome yet, so she didn't know what was lurking about.

"Hey Sakura, you go ahead and go to sleep, I'll watch over you, so don't worry about anything," Naruto assured Sakura with a grin.  She shouldn't have protested, because she was in fact quite tired, but she figured she could always wake Naruto up if anything important happened.  Plus, she didn't want to be always be watched over.  During the Chuunin exam she had promised herself she wouldn't, and she wasn't one to break her own promises.

"Actually Naruto, I'm not tired at all," she retorted. "If you don't mind, I'll take the first shift awake, ok?" she stated with a warm smile.  If it wasn't dark, Naruto would have noticed the tired glaze that hung over her eyes.  However, as it was, he was a little tired himself, and he couldn't say no to Sakura.  

"Ok, but then you wake me up whenever your ready, ok?" Naruto replied calmly.  He laid down right next to a wall of rock and dug into his bag quickly, pulling out a random sheet he packed and his cow-spot sleeping cap.  He couldn't very well get to sleep without it, now could he?

As Naruto dozed off into slumber, Sakura shivered slightly.  She assumed since that it had gotten colder outside, the caverns had dropped in temperature as well.  If only she had been paying more attention to her surroundings, she would have noticed the entity that had been listening in too her conversation, and the one that had been creeping closer and closer.

Meanwhile…

"Ino? Chouji?  Kiba, Hinata, Shino?" asked Shikamaru aloud.  It had been 6 hours since his teammates had gone missing and 5 since team 8 had left him.  .  "Anyone, please," Shikamaru hopefully and desperately through the words into the cavern.  He wanted to go look for his teammates, but then he didn't want to leave on the odd chance they would come back. "Damn, this is one hassle I have to deal with," he told himself.

"This is far too easy," thought Sasuke as he approached team 10's base.  He thought that there would probably only be one person on watch, but this person was giving himself away by talking aloud?  "I'm assuming it's Shikamaru since that was the only name left out of the question earlier, but he is supposed to be a genius.  And why would he even be asking for the other group?" Sasuke battered himself with questions as to Shikamaru's current state to be acting so carelessly.  After a few moments, he assumed something had to be wrong, and receded the Sharingan eyes he had taken out earlier.  He knew Shikamaru would present a problem with his Shadow Copy no Jutsu if he had to fight, but he really wasn't expecting a fight to be needed.

"Hey Shikamaru," Sasuke announced just loudly enough for Shikamaru to hear.

"Who's there?  Is that…Sasuke?" Shikamaru finished as Sasuke walked slowly into view.  "Sasuke, have you seen any members of the other teams yet?" Shikamaru wanted to make sure that they weren't just playing a cruel prank on him for being the only one promoted to chuunin.  He knew that Sasuke wouldn't have any part of a childish prank however, and could at least get an honest answer.

"No, you are my first encounter…"Sasuke responded. "Why do you ask?"

Inwardly, Shikamaru was cursing at himself. Why had he listened to Ino in the first place?  If he had been with his team, he could have surely…"about 6 hours ago my team disappeared," he started.  "Then, I met up with team 8, and they went to go get their radio for me, but they haven't returned yet…and it has already been 5 hours.  I think…something might be going on."

Sasuke pondered this for a moment.  He wondered what could happen to all of those ninjas.  They were all pretty talented, and it would be amazing if they had been taken without a fight at all, even if a normal Jounin had attacked them.  And if the ninja had been that powerful, then why would he be bothering to take a bunch of Genins?  It just didn't make sense…and then it hit him.  He still had no idea who it was, but he remembered that he had left Naruto and Sakura alone at their base.

"Crap!  Lets go Shikamaru, I'll explain to you on the way," Sasuke blurted out in a tone of voice that showed fear, and anger, anger at himself.  He knew Naruto was powerful, he had seen it first hand.  However, he had forgot to tell Sakura to be the one to sleep, so she could have…"No, she wouldn't…Naruto wouldn't let her…" he kept assuring himself.  "If Sakura was the one keeping watch, then she would have no chance against a powerful ninja.  Hell, even Naruto, with all his power, might not stand a chance against this guy."  His thoughts continued even as he murmured what his take on the situation was to Shikamaru.  

Shikamaru had been thinking the same thing…that it was some strong ninja most likely, because no one would ever pull a prank and not tell Sasuke about it.  He knew first hand that most of the girls were in "love" with Sasuke, and they would never dare keep him out of a secret. Hell, if anyone was to pull a prank it would be Naruto anyway, and Naruto had a big mouth.  He would have certainly mentioned it to Sasuke.  As much as Shikamaru didn't want to admit it, that only left one possible scenario…someone extraordinarily strong had abducted them.  If he had not been so worried about what was to become of his friends, he probably would have mentioned something about it being a pain in the ass.

After about a half an hour of running at top speed, Sasuke and Shikamaru reached the base of team 7.  "Shit," Sasuke thought.  He couldn't sense Sakura or Naruto anywhere.  All that was left behind was a small puddle of blood.

Haha I bet you all hate me for basically not telling you anything at all about the bad guy.  I can't help it, I'm evil lol.  Well, now that I've gotten the basic beginning of the story set, I can actually start having fights and cool stuff like that.  Excited?  I know _I_ am hehe.


	5. Retrieval5

Yay, a new chapter! Well I was reading some other fics and people were talking about someone not putting in Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun and stuff like that.  Well, I don't do that because my story is in English.  Now, in the English language, we don't use those endings, so I don't use them in my story. (It also has to do with me not wanting to type extra keystrokes) I also don't use random Japanese words, because not everyone would know what they mean.  However, I do have some exceptions.  For instance, the attacks I will leave in Japanese because they just sound cooler. An exception will be if I make up a technique, in which case I will probably use an English word followed by "no jutsu" because I don't feel like translating anything.  I also put the last name first because it just sounds weird if I switch it around.  On a side-note, I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially the people who didn't have an email address.  I would have emailed you, but obviously I couldn't, so this is the next best thing. One last thing, if any grammar or spelling is messed up, I'm sorry.  I don't have a beta reader, and I generally don't even check through it myself, so basically whatever I think is right to begin with is what I go with =). Anyway, enough of my ranting, and on to the story.

Naruto stood next to Sakura and stared at a small, mystical orb. As he reached out to it, Sakura bonked him one on the head. "Idiot!  Don't touch it, you don't even know what it will do!" she lectured.  

"But, but, it could be something really cool!  And it's not like I won't be able to fight anything off anyway, so we are in no danger at all," he answered while smirking and turning his gaze back onto to orb.  He moved his hand upon it, and in a flash he and Sakura were taken to somewhere he had never seen before, although his senses told him it was definitely something familiar.  

He could see a large spiral, and some water crashing up on a coastline. There was something odd about the water, however.  "Hey, Sakura, why is they water steaming," Naruto questioned with a puzzled look on his face. "And what is that smell?"

"I don't know I just got here!" She retorted while looking around at the scenery. It did smell familiar, not to mention making her hungry for some reason.

After a few minutes of pondering, a thin stringy entity approached the two ninjas.  "Hey, I bet you want to know where you are, don't you?" it asked in a high, bubbly voice.  

"Umm," Naruto started before Sakura but in with, "Of course we do!"

"Well, you are in Ramen World!" it stated with enthusiasm.  "And I am a Ramen noodle! Amazing, isn't it!"  Sakura just stood there, dumbfounded, while Naruto took time to process what had just been said.

"Ramen….World? Ramen World!" he shouted excitedly as he ran to the talkative Ramen noodle and quickly ate it.  He then went over to the steaming water he had seen earlier, and started gulping down as much as he could.  It seemed to last for hours…

"Damnit, this is my fault," Sasuke told himself. "Damnit!" Sasuke was obviously blaming himself for the capture of Sakura and Naruto.  "I'll get them back…I _have_ to," he said continuing his conversation with himself as he gritted his teeth.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was thinking similar thoughts, although he was also complaining to himself how much of a hassle it would be.  He still felt horrible, but he was one who didn't like to do any extra work, no matter what it was.  While he was thinking, he strolled over to the wall of the cavern and sat on a rock to rest.

"Oww!" yelped a familiar voice from somewhere nearby.

"What was that," Sasuke said alertly.  He couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from due to the echo, but then he played the sound back in his head and realized something.  "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto pulled a sheet down so it stopped covering his face.

"Get off of me Shikamaru!  What are you doing sitting on me! I was having a nice dream!" he exclaimed while thinking about Ramen World.  "Wait a minute, what are you even doing here Shikamaru! And what do you want Sasuke?" Naruto complained as he glimpsed at Sasuke.  He could have sworn, if only for a minute, that he had seen Sasuke smile.  Not the usual cocky smile that Sasuke put on when he knew he had the advantage, this one was different, somehow. However, it was only there for a second until Sasuke put on his usual cold face.  

"What about Sakura, where is she?" Sasuke questioned harshly.

"I don't know, she said she wanted to take the first watch so I," Naruto started to say before Sasuke cut him off quickly.

            "Idiot!  Couldn't you see how tired she was?  That's the reason I left her here in the first place!  And now she's.." Sasuke snapped at Naruto before turning his head and looking down.

            "What, what about her.  Now she's what?" Naruto asked innocently.  He had no idea what had happened while he was in peaceful slumber.  Sasuke however, wasn't about to answer him.  He couldn't state the truth, although he knew it well enough. "Tell me, what happened to her?" Naruto pleaded again.

            "We think someone has abducted her, along with the rest of my team and team 8," Shikamaru uttered slowly from behind Naruto.  "Your lucky they didn't get you too.  Since you were sleeping, your chakra level must have been near nonexistent.  That was good thinking of you to use that camouflaged cover," he added.  He knew Naruto was probably feeling just as bad as he was now, so he tried to offer as much comfort as he could.

            Naruto glanced at his sheet, realizing that he hadn't meant to pack it in the first place; he had just pulled the first sheet he found.  It just so happened it was the one he used to hide from people when he used to pull pranks.  He also started to feel quite uneasy. "Wha…abducted?" Naruto asked to no one in particular.  He wasn't really asking a question in the first place, he was just confirming to himself what he had heard.

            "But, she said!  She said she would wake me up if anything happened, why didn't she…?" Naruto cried as tears started to form at the edges of his eyes. He couldn't believe it.  He had let Sakura, whom he adored, be taken all while he was sleeping.  He couldn't fight back the tears as they slowly crept down his face, and he realized that he had failed her. "Why did I let her…" Sasuke had heard enough of Naruto's self-pity, even though Sasuke himself had been doing the same thing just moments before.

            "Shut up, idiot!  We are going to get her back, so just shut up and let me think" demanded a pretty pissed off Sasuke.  He knew they had to get her back, but he had no idea how.  They didn't know the motives of this person, they had no leads, and they couldn't even call for help because Sakura was the one with the radio.  Before he had thought of a viable solution, Shikamaru piped up.

            "Well, since we have no leads at all, and all we know is that this guy has to be pretty strong, I can only think of one thing to do," he stated.  Sasuke and Naruto just gave him questionable glares and awaited the genius' plan.  "We go back through the Cavern and get some help from our teachers." This brought forth a look of bewilderment upon Naruto's face, and just a glare from Sasuke.

            "But, but!  We can't go all the way back!  It will take us a couple hours and we don't know how long we have!" Naruto argued.  He failed to see how running away was going to solve any problem, but Shikamaru was already prepared with an answer.

            "Exactly, we don't know how long we have.  We don't have time to just sit here waiting for something to happen, and we have no clues whatsoever as to base our next move upon.  Therefore, it would be smartest to go get our teachers or maybe even the Anbu to solve this problem.  And don't get any ideas about staying here alone, we all need to stay together just in case this guy shows up again."

            "Fine, that's the plan.  But lets get moving, NOW.  We don't have time to waste around here," Sasuke confirmed.  Naruto just stood up grumpily and followed Sasuke and Shikamaru.  They were moving at insane speeds; at least two times faster than they had came into the cavern.  After only an hour of running with no rest, they could finally see a light ahead.

            "There…"Shikamaru panted heavily.  He was very tired out, and was relieved to see the sunlight, although it was still heart wrenching for him when he thought of the fact that Ino and Chouji weren't there with him. However, his relief was short-lived as he saw something else ahead.

            "Stop!" he shouted as all three ninjas slid across the ground, kicking up clouds of smoke behind their feet.  Sasuke then saw it.  In the middle of the light a silhouette could be seen, and as he sensed the chakra, he could tell it wasn't friendly.

            "Hey, who is that?  Is it a teacher or something," Naruto broke the silence as the three stood completely still. In a moment however, the silhouette had vanished, and a deep voice spoke from behind them.  "Thinking of getting out eh?"

            As they turned around, the man had already flew past them and back at the entrance. "I don't think so!  Landslide No Jutsu!" Shouted the man as Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru felt vibrations all around them.

            "Get back!" Sasuke ordered briskly as the ninjas flew backwards as fast as they could. As they looked on, rocks from all sides of the cavern started to crumble, and slowly the light ahead started to disappear as the first 20 yards of the cavern started to cave in.  In a matter of seconds, their escape route and plan had been squashed, and a burly man stood before them.  He had black, spiky hair, and had a sound village forehead protector on his head.  

            "So, you are with Orochimaru, aren't you?" Sasuke knowingly questioned the foreign man.  Sasuke had been informed that Orochimaru formed the Sound village as a way to take over Leaf Village, so the forehead protector made it blatantly obvious.  

            "Where did you take our comrades?" Shikamaru angrily asked as pictures of Ino and Chouji and team 8 danced around inside of his head.  It was the first time he had ever been so forceful.  Usually he thought using force in his voice just took extra effort that wasn't worth it, but this 

            "Hah, don't worry, those weaklings aren't hurt.  We are just using them for leverage." Said the black-haired man as an evil smirk appeared across his face.  

            "What do you mean…leverage?" Naruto continued the array of questions with one of his own.  Naruto had no idea what was going on.  He wasn't the fastest learner if all of Leaf village, and the fact that he had been asleep for half the time didn't make matters better.

            "Levarage…to make sure Orochimaru gets what he wants," was the man's answer.  Sasuke knew what the man meant.  After the invasion of the Sound and Sand, Sasuke had also been informed of Orochimaru's true purpose.  He needed a new body to take control of, and it was Sasuke's that he had eyed, most likely because of his Sharingan.  "Well, we aren't going to hurt them, as long as you follow our orders of course."

            "What kind of orders?" Sasuke questioned slowly and with a glare.

            "Ah, hasty aren't we?  Hehe, you probably already know what they are.  In exchange for your friends…you come with us, no questions asked," said Orochimaru's henchman with another laugh.  Naruto, meanwhile, wasn't going to hear any of this.

            "No way he is going to go with you!  We aren't going to trade off people's lives here!  If you think you can get away with hurting my friends, then I'm just going to kick your ass and make you tell us where they are!" he shouted with complete confidence as he prepared to launch an all out assault before Sasuke's arm flew out in front of him.

            "Where are they," Sasuke said in a tone ordering the man to answer. "I'll say it again, where are they."

            "It's not like you will be able to get to them anyway kid, and I won't be taking orders from some punk like you," the man replied, and then looking towards Naruto.  "And if you think you stand a chance, go ahead and attack, there is no way two genin and a rookie chuunin could even get close to defeating me."  

Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru all glanced into each other's eyes for a millisecond and it was enough.

            "Well, even if it is a hassle, I guess it can't be helped," Shikamaru smirked as he stated his feelings on the situation.

            "Well then, lets get wild!" Naruto yelled as he prepared to attack.  "There is no way these people will take those who saved me from the hell of loneliness away…I'll kill them!" he was thinking as he ran towards the man.

            "Sharingan!" was all that Sasuke had to yell, and the fight had officially begun.

            I'm going to apologize now for the crappiness of this chapter…its like 2:00 am right now, and I don't know what I was doing, but I think it turned out bad…and I tried fixing it but I just can't, and I'm not about to rewrite the whole thing.  Soooo….I'll just make the next chapter better, alright?


	6. Retrieval6

            What's going on my fans?  Not much here, except I have to go to the beach this weekend.  Bleh.  I'm about as excited as Sasuke would be to go on such a trip.  Plus, I won't get to check the update for Naruto manga!  Blasphemy! Anyways, here's the next chapter.  I hope the fight scene isn't too boring for you guys. Don't worry though, this fight isn't too important anyways, and even as I write this header now I don't even know what it's going to be like, but it's pretty late so…weird stuff could happen.  Well, on to the fic.  Woohoo.

A set of eyes slowly and silently fluttered open in the darkness.  As they glanced around the surroundings, a small flicker of light could be seen directly ahead. Several heavy footsteps could be heard running through the otherwise tranquil area.  Suddenly, it dawned upon the owner of the eyes just what exactly was going on.

            "Damn it…I wasn't able to protect myself or Naruto," Sakura realized in her mind.  She was obviously being carried by someone, and she was definitely being moved fast.  Judging by the lump on her head, she felt it would be a smart idea to keep her consciousness to herself.

            As she secretly glanced around, she noticed there were 5 other people being held.  "What's going on here?" she wondered with fear as she realized who the other people were.  Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Chouji, and Shino were all being carried to the same unknown destination as she was.  

            Suddenly, her motion was stopped, and she was abruptly dropped onto the floor along with her fellow comrades.  It took almost all of her remaining strength just to keep from making a noise during her fall, but somehow she managed not to.

            "So, where is Sasuke or that Naruto kid?" asked an eerily familiar voice in a tone demanding an answer.

            "Sorry Orochimaru, but they weren't found during this first run," answered another familiar voice in a sorry tone. "But you weren't really expecting them…were you."

            "That was…Kabuto's voice!  And that means the other one was…Orochimaru!" Sakura suddenly realized as fear shot straight down her whole body.

            "Heh, that's why you are my right-hand man Kabuto.  You always see through my plans," Orochimaru praised with an evil smile forming on his face.

            "It wasn't too hard to figure out, after all, one of the men didn't return with us so I knew something was up," Kabuto modestly replied.  It wasn't the first time he had been complimented in such a way.

            Sakura, realizing the trap that had been set for her friend let out a small yelp and tried to cover it up by acting unconscious again.  However, this wasn't about to fool one of the legendary 3 ninjas, and Orochimaru noticed her right away.

            "Looks like one of the bait weaklings has woken up," he announced as he strolled towards her.  "So, what do you think about my plan?  Think it will attract your 'friend' Sasuke?" he laughed as a fist slammed down upon Sakura's head. "I'll even give you plenty of time to think about it."

            Sakura's could just make out Orochimaru's smirk before her view faded back into nothingness.

            "Heh I wasn't expecting a third in this fight, but I already know about your abilities," said the henchman while gesturing towards Shikamaru.  I guess it would only be fitting to start this contest off with this technique!" The man pulled out 8 kunai and clutched them in-between his fingers while chanting, "Illuminating lantern no jutsu!" and subsequently flinging his body in circles while letting go of the kunai.  The kunai were scattered into all parts of the fighting area and somehow stuck deep within the rock walls and starting emitting an insanely bright and strange light.  It was not like sunlight, but instead completely white and left only a small amount of shadow underneath each person.

            "Damn!" Shikamaru yelled as he realized what the man had just done.  With hardly any shadows at all, and his shadow being so small, the Shadow Copy no Jutsu would be almost impossible to use, unless of course, Shikamaru could get into very close range.  But without very good taijutsu, Shikamaru realized such an idea would be suicide against a Ninja of such a high level.  As Shikamaru started to think up new strategies, Naruto had already came up with his own.

            "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as 10 replicas of himself instantly appeared next to him.  "I'll take you out with just one combo!" said the blonde-haired ninja with the enlarged ego.  However, the opponent was only laughing.  Realizing this, Naruto pushed even harder with his clones determined to make the man shut his mouth.  However, when Naruto got within a range of 30 feet, the man had already started a new jutsu.

            "Earth Army no Jutsu!" the man roared back at Naruto as a matching 10 replicas of himself had started to take shape out of the ground beneath him.  Naruto was taken by surprise and put on a look of angry surprise as he pushed even harder.  

            "Heh, these are probably just like water clones!  They are going to be way weaker then the main body, so I'll just…" he thought to himself as each clone similarly brought back a fist and prepared to launch an attack.  Expecting the man to be at least slightly worried, Naruto was taken by surprise when the man was still smiling.  "Stop smiling!  I'll teach you not to underestimate me!" Naruto screamed at the man as he looked back at Sasuke for a brief moment, seeming to acknowledge something.  

            "Naruto, above you, look out!" Shikamaru hollered quickly as he noticed 3 clones starting to form from the ceiling above.  

            "Oh no!  I better hurry this up then!" Naruto told himself aloud, generating more positive looks from the enemy.  He quickly dispatched all of the clones in front of him although all except one of his were destroyed in the process as well.  However, as he kept the clone glanced on the enemy, he noticed the 3 clones were heading straight for Sasuke and Shikamaru!  Not only that, but there were also 3 more clones coming out of the ground behind them!  

            "You guys, look out be…!" was all Naruto could utter before he saw his two friends get stabbed in their respective backs.  A look of horror spread across Naruto's face as he stared at the man who had done the deed.  He was still laughing.

            "Hah, you thought you could stand a chance against me?  I guess Orochimaru is going to be mad when he hears about your friend dead and all, but….what?  Why are you smiling now?"  The man furiously asked as Naruto couldn't help but keep smiling.  

"You thought you could stand a chance against us?" he said as two clouds of smoke popped up in place of Sasuke and Shikamaru's bodies.  Immediately following that, 3 clones of Sasuke appeared to quickly annihalate the six clones that stood where his clone once had.  Shikamaru, meanwhile, appeared right behind Orochimaru's shocked subordinate and whispered in his ear, "Got you."

While the man was busy having his clones utterly destroyed by the hands of two mere genin, the Chuunin had snuck behind him and used his Shadow Copy no jutsu to bind him in place.  

"But…but how?" the man questioned in a stupor. 

            "It was easy considering how much you gave yourself away earlier," Sasuke started.  "Once we figured out your presence, me and Shikamaru hid in place of two of Naruto's clones," he concluded.

            "Yea, did you really think Sasuke would sit there and let me have all the good parts?" Naruto playfully questioned as the man just stared on in horror. Then, getting in closer to the man, Naruto whispered, "You know, Sasuke always tries to steal the good parts!  I bet you he will try and finish you off, just watch!"  Meanwhile the man was still sitting there shocked.  

            "I was beaten…by these guys?" was the thought in his mind as he watched Naruto and Sasuke fight over who always took the good parts in the fights, although it was really just a one-sided argument on Naruto's side.  Sasuke just responded "whatever" whenever Naruto brought up what Naruto thought was a good point.  Inwardly, Sasuke was once again thinking about Naruto's fight with Gaara…asking himself if he could ever become that strong.  

            "Hey, guys…hey…HEY GUYS!" Shikamaru finally shouted trying to get Naruto and Sasuke's attention. Once they turned to face him, he finished his statement. "What are we going to do with this guy?  I'm not going to be able to hold him like this for much longer you know…"

            Right before Naruto was going to announce his awesome plan, Sasuke piped up, "Naruto, you need to save your chakra, we still have a lot of work to do. Plus, we need to get some information off of this guy first."  Naruto, having been lost in the fight, had forgotten the actual reason why they were fighting in the first place.  Suddenly, though, Naruto remembered.  "Sakura…"

            "I'll handle this," Naruto said with a fury that Sasuke didn't even want to mess with. Naruto walked up to the man briskly, as he knew he needed to get the information quickly.  With his patented fox look going for him, Naruto grabbed the man by the shirt. "Tell me where they are are…NOW!" he rasped.  The man wasn't a good enough fighter to defeat them, and he sure as hell didn't want to anyone emitting this sort of chakra.  

            "It's not like your going to save them anyway.  They are all the way at the other end of these caverns.  Although you might as well give up now, there is no way you three can do it," was the man's answer.  Not only did this enrage Naruto even more, it also enraged Sasuke.  Neither one was about to be underestimated, and Shikamaru knew something was about to happen he didn't like.

            "You remember I move the same as this guy right?" He informed the two infuriated ninjas.  Sasuke just held his anger in by clenching his fists in his pockets and turning away.  Naruto meanwhile, had returned to his normal state, and acknowledged Shikamaru.  "Fine, I'll just knock this guy out with one move!" he roared as Shikamaru prepared for the worst.  "Sexy no Jutsu!" Naruto called out as he preformed the ability that never failed him.  The man was immediately struck down as blood ran down his nose, and Sasuke tied him up and set up traps all around to ensure he wouldn't be going anywhere.

            Usually Naruto would laugh as his victim fell pray to his technique, but he was far to angry and upset to laugh about it now.  However, when he realized the technique didn't affect Shikamaru, Naruto couldn't help but ask. 

            "Shikamaru…are you gay?"

            Ok that's enough.  I'm really really tired now.  I'm going to sleep.  And the Shikamaru joke….I couldn't help it, it was just so opportune.  And no I don't hate Shikamaru, he is actually one of my favorite characters.  And no he isn't gay, and I'll explain that next chapter…but for now I'm going to sleep.  It's 3:00 in the morning….zZzzzZZzzzZZzzZZZ


	7. Retrieval7

            Yay, today's update comes to you from me with amazing joy, mainly because of a certain review I received, well…2 actually lol.  It seems that a certain person who likes a certain show doesn't like the fact that I bashed it and told her to stop being hypocritical for other reasons.  And then she comes on and yells at me for making fun of her writing, even though I never called into question her writing skills at all, although I definitely could have…all dialogue lol. (note: you may not be able to see the second review, she made the mistake of making it anonymous.  In other words…deleted!)  LoL, this person cracks me up. By the way, sorry for the delay in updating.  I was caught up with trying to finish off Xenogears and watching the New York Mets get stomped several times *frowns*…not to mention the fact that since I didn't end the last chapter with a cliff, I couldn't think of how to start…hehe. Anyway, for those of you intelligent beings, this update is for you.

            Sakura awoke once again, yet this time into a dank, cold, and crowded area surrounded by bars.  As she looked around, she saw the faces of her friends.  

            "Sakura your finally awake," said a worried Ino.  Even though they were rivals, after the Chuunin exam they had started to get a little closer to what their friendship had once been.  

            Sakura gazed around the room slowly, while bringing her hand up to a large bump on her head.  She saw Hinata sitting in one of the corners holding onto her knees, Kiba standing near Hinata with Akamaru in his shirt, Shino standing perfectly still and glancing through his sunglasses and outside of the bars, Chouji sitting down mumbling to himself about hunger, and Ino standing right above her.  Then she remembered what she had heard right before she was knocked out by Orochimaru…

            **"So, what do you think about my plan? Think it will attract your 'friend' Sasuke?"**

            "Oh no!" Sakura shouted, breaking the silence of the captives.  She knew that they were all being held captive for the sole person of getting to Sasuke, and they were also probably going to be killed if Sasuke came anyway.  She had to think of a way out…or at least find a way to keep Sasuke away and get some jounins to come help.  However, in her current situation, she could think of nothing.

            "Oh no _what_ Sakura?" Ino blatently asked.  She knew they were in a bad situation, but she wasn't about to freak out over it.  She also didn't expect Sakura to react the way she had to being captured.  She was her rival after all, and rivals have to be around the same strength.  For Sakura to get so upset…"there must be something I'm not seeing here," Ino thought.

            Sakura subsequently told the whole story to Ino and the others; about what she had inferred from listening to Orochimaru's conversation with Kabuto earlier. As they hadn't been informed that Orochimaru was after Sasuke in the first place, they were completely shocked.

            "B-but why does he want Sasuke?" uttered Hinata in typical fashion. Shino just looked in her direction for a moment before facing back forward and answering her question.

            "It is obvious that Sasuke is a talented ninja, and with his Sharingan he could be quite useful to someone such as Orochimaru," he stated.  Everyone just sat there, pondering the events and reasons behind them for a few minutes when Kiba broke the silence.

            "Ahh I've had it!  No one is even guarding us, I'll just bust these bars down!" he screamed in defiance of their captors as he lunged at the metal bars with all his chakra focused in his arms for extra strength.  As he hit the bars however, he was flung backwards violently and hit the opposite wall with enough force to slightly bend the bar. As he did that, the genjutsu around the bars was unraveled and revealed 4 guards, one on each side of the container.  It also revealed a translucent barrier surrounding the whole cell.  

            "You didn't think we would put you bait ninjas in such an easy escapable cell did you?" One of the guards scoffed at the young ninjas.  "You can try all you like to break free, but any extra Chakra you use in there will set off this barrier jutsu and you will feel the effects," he laughed as he prepared for his final statement.

            "There is no escape."

            "Gay!?" Shikamaru retorted loudly back at Naruto's question.  "I've already seen you use that jutsu before in the academy idiot, I won't fall for it now."  That was Shikamaru's reasoning, and though they were viable excuses, they were far from the truth.  The fact of the matter was that Shikamaru hadn't even paid attention to Naruto's technique, and was concentrating on far more important things…or people.  He had let his friends down; and while once he would have scoffed at friends as being a hassle, he realized how much he had grown to like his teammates.  Chouji would always be a loyal friend, and Shikamaru knew that.  Ino…well Shikamaru was unsure about her.  She sometimes showed him great affection, but that was only when Sasuke wasn't nearby.  Once Sasuke waltzed into sight, it was as if he was never there. "Girls are annoying, I can never tell what they are thinking…but I still have to get her back," he thought to himself as he glanced back at Naruto.

            Shikamaru also was wondering just what to do, as they probably couldn't go up against the odds themselves.  They would have to go ahead of course, and hope for Jounin support later on.  He assumed the Jounins would figure something was wrong very soon, as it had probably been around a day since the last contact had been made with them. They would come, and they would help get his friends back.

            Naruto meanwhile, had accepted Shikamaru's answer.  He was only joking, but his jokes could only keep him occupied from the truth for a few moments before he remembered the reality again.  The reality was his friends were taken, and he was going to get them back no matter what he had to do.  It was obvious he wanted Sakura back most of all, but he also cared about his other fellow ninjas.  Even if he wasn't particularly close to any of them, he had found comfort during the chuunin exam as being one of the group; something he hadn't had a chance to experience early on in life.  

He had gotten at least a little closer to all of them, especially Hinata.  She had fought as hard as she possible could, and he cheered her on.  She gave him medicine even though he had just beaten her teammate.  She took him out of his uncharacteristic depression before his fight with Neji.  She had told him how his determination and guts had instilled within herself a sense of confidence that was never there before.  With all these things happening, Naruto felt himself start to like a lot more.  He even fought against Neji not only for himself but for her as well.  He sure as hell wasn't going to let a great person like Hinata fall victim to anyone.

Sasuke was also thinking after the fight had ended. He knew that Orochimaru was after him, but he had never expected him to go after his friends.  If Orochimaru really wanted Sasuke, he probably could have just come and taken him with no problems.  It just didn't add up…but frankly, Sasuke didn't care.  He could be walking right into the lion's den so to speak, but he wasn't going to let those dear to him die _again_.  In the worst-case scenario he would just have to…but then a wave of shock crossed his face as he realized a blatant fact that he should have picked up on earlier.  "How did Orochimaru even know I was down here in the caverns; I thought he left the village!"

"Naruto, Shikamaru; we have a much larger problem than we thought," Sasuke informed the two ninjas standing next to him.  With a look of puzzlement both of them stared at Sasuke and gave an obligatory "what do you mean?" before listening more intently on Sasuke's following words.

"If Orochimaru wanted me he could have just done it instead of taking our friends first, which leads me to believe he has hidden intentions.  But that isn't even the worst part; for him to know we were going to be down here…there is only one reasonable explanation. There is another spy in Leaf village!" Sasuke boldly phrased before waiting to see the reactions on Naruto and Shikamaru's faces.

"But, but, I don't get it.  Who could be a spy?  After finding out Kabuto was a spy they checked everyone, even me!" Naruto countered.  "And even with a spy, how does that make our situation any worse down here! We'll tell someone later, we have more important things to do" he hollered at Sasuke.  Shikamaru, taking in all of Sasuke's information, had a somewhat frightened gaze come across his face.  He had realized what Naruto hadn't.

"Naruto, don't you see what that means?  If there is a spy working in the village, that means to keep their plan working down here…he will most likely stir up a ruckus in the village." Shikamaru stated.  Naruto was characteristically still confused, so Shikamaru added more to his explanation.  "If there plan is to get Sasuke, then they probably know the Jounin teachers will be trying to get into contact with us.  Either they will prevent that, or stir up commotion so that the Jounins will be _forced_ to stay in the village.  Don't you get it?  We are going to be alone from now on!"

Sasuke just kept staring into the darkness, as he had been doing the entire time Shikamaru was explaining the situation.  Sasuke was the one who had thought of it first, so he obviously didn't need to listen intently, as Naruto did. He was thinking about what they would have to do.  Of course they needed to rescue Sakura and the others, but he had seen Orochimaru's power first hand.  He wasn't even able to move just when Orochimaru _looked_ at him, let alone fight against him, even with the seal on Orochimaru's arms.  Plus, there would probably be a few subordinates of Orochimaru about, and they only had 3 young ninjas. It was turning out to be a far worse situation then he had previously thought.  Naruto, however, didn't seem to think there was a problem at all.

"So, who cares!  We need to go rescue our friends anyway, not wait around for help!" Naruto hollered at both of them.

"Idiot, there could be many chuunin or jounin level ninjas around, we can't just go running in!" Sasuke countered loudly.  He wanted to save them just as much as Naruto did, but he wasn't stupid enough to just go rush in.  "He hasn't seen Orochimaru's true power!  This moron doesn't know what he's talking about," he said to himself.

"I've already defeated Orochimaru's right-hand man Kabuto once, and I can do it again! Plus Orochimaru can't even use his arms, let alone fight well!  We _need_ to get them back!" Naruto said with a slight whimper as he finished as a small amount of tears welled up in his eyes.  He was overtaken by grief when he thought Sasuke had died, and he wasn't about to let his whole world collapse before him.  They saved him from his own hell, and now it was his turn to save them.

Sasuke for the time being was thinking about what Naruto had said.  "When did Naruto even fight against them…there is no way he could defeat someone like Kabuto. Kakashi told me he was almost as strong as he was…could Naruto _really _be getting this strong?" he thought. 

"Now that I think of our situation more, I don't think we will have to fight too many other ninjas." Shikamaru started, getting the attention of the two rivals.  "Well, if Orochimaru only wants you and knows that only us young ninjas are down in the cavern he probably wouldn't put too many men in the caverns, because then his group would be too large, and may run the risk of giving themselves away, even in a secluded area like this.  Plus, he probably wouldn't be worried about the ninjas in the caverns, and more worried about…" 

"…the ninjas in the village." Sasuke finished Shikamaru's sentence with a twinge.  One spy would be hard enough to handle, but having another invasion shortly after the first one could be devastating. "Damn."

"Hey, hey, Kakashi and them will be able to take care of them, but we need to do our part too!" Naruto declared.  Usually Sasuke would find something wrong with what Naruto said, but this time he had to agree.  Even if the odds were against them, they set out to get their friends back alive and well.

Uhh basically I actually took two days to write this chapter, so it might not flow well. (like an hour a day) Anyway, I had to get all that stuff out of the way, so I'll probably have some more upbeat chapters in the near future.  I'll try my best to update the story soon, I know I took a while with this one.


	8. Retrieval8

            Hello everyone.  Seeing as how I just got a review, I thought I would give you guys a little bit of an update on why my story hasn't been updated.  First of all, I lost interest in Naruto in general for a bit.  It's probably because I was a bit too obsessed with it in the first place, but whatever.  Then, I started school at the beginning of August.  Usually I wouldn't care, but this year I'm taking all these AP classes and crap, so I actually have to do homework.  Plus, whenever I do have free time, I spend it on the Final Fantasy XI beta test…mwahahahah.  But anyways, those are my excuses.  Here's the new chapter ;). It might not fit well with the rest of the story, because I don't remember exactly what I wrote earlier.  And I definitely don't want to read my own story…sooo, yea.  Oh, and one more thing.  Seeing as how Sasuke is now retarded and I hate him, I think that might change the way I write him…maybe.

            "There is no escape," the guard announced with a smirk, as the genjutsu steadily took form again, making it look like the young ninjas were again in solitude.  They all had a look of despair upon their respective faces, as none of them could think of anything reasonably feasible to enhance their situation.  All of them, that is, except for Shino.  He just stood there with his expression hidden behind his galaxy-black sunglasses.  

            Sakura, meanwhile, felt tears start to sting her eyes.  She had failed her teammates, and she was now failing her other friends.  She could do nothing for anyone, and she was wondering if she ever would be able to.  Glancing at her situation, things were obviously not in her favor.  Ino took note of her friend's tears and crept closer to her and offered her condolences. 

            "Listen Sakura, things will work out just fine.  It will work out…don't be such a crybaby," Ino mused with a broad smile on her face.  In reality, she herself was having just as many doubts as Sakura, but she had to be a pillar of strength, or the rest of the captives would be stuck with two useless female ninjas. 

            Shino, after trying to take in every aspect of the surroundings into account, decided it was time for the young nins to break themselves out of their prison.  With a swift movement of his hand, he motioned Kiba to come closer to him, gaining the attention of all the other ninjas in the cell.  With all eyes on him, Shino almost silently whispered his plan into Kiba's ear, gaining a "YEA!" as a seal of approval from Kiba.  With the other ninjas watching, Kiba again concentrated chakra into his hands, while Shino backed up towards the edge of the cell.  

            "Let's do it, take two!" howled Kiba as he lunged towards the bars yet again.  The genjutsu again unraveled, and the translucent barrier was seen again.  This time, however, Hinata noticed something unusual.  Right as Kiba hit the bars with all his force, the barrier in his strike area had momentarily become opaque, while the rest of the barrier had become slightly more transparent.  

            "S-so that's the plan," she deduced as Kiba's body flew against the opposite wall yet again, resulting in a loud yelp.  Akamaru, crawled towards his human companion and started licking Kiba's face as Chouji frowned in disapproval.  

            "We'll never get out of here like that," he stated, as another guard laughed.  

            "Not 'like that'.  More like, not ever," he sinisterly announced as the genjutsu again took form, as the images of the guards slowly dissipated into nothing. For the third time the captives were left alone, cold, hungry, and without hope.  At least the majority of them, that is

            Three stealthy figures flew wildly throughout the darkened caverns, searching for things lost, yearning for those things to once again be with them.  They ran with disregard for the myriad of traps that they set off, as they now knew that time was of the essence, and that losing their friends for good would be harsher than any physical punishment that the vapid caves could inflict upon them. 

            They had been running in silence for the past few minutes, other than the occasional trap that sprung in the wake of their steps, as each ninja had been deeply engulfed in his own respective thoughts.  

            Shikamaru, while usually calm in every situation, had become angered.  Not necessarily at the captors, and most assuredly not at the captives.  He was angry with himself for not being able to protect his team.            

            "It was my job as a chuunin to protect them.  Maybe I'm not as cut out for this job as they made me out to be," he thought, demoralizing himself.  But even more than his professional failure, his personal failure is what chagrined him to no end.  He had become increasingly closer to his team throughout the whole chuunin exam.  Not only had he and Chouji become much closer friends, he and Ino…well, that was something even Shikamaru's genius couldn't figure out. Nonetheless, Shikamaru wanted them back, and that was all that mattered to him.  

            Sasuke, meanwhile, was having different thoughts.  While he did take on the blame for allowing Sakura to be taken, and even more for being the one that Orochimaru was after in the first place, he wanted more than just having Sakura back.  He wanted _revenge_.  The thing that had dominated his life for years was turning two-fold.  Not only would he enact revenge on his brother, he would also let Orochimaru feel his wrath, and get Sakura back during this whole process.  She was one of his beloved comrades; one of the few people he actually cared for.  

            "I'll be damned if I watch the past events of my life repeat themselves," he seemingly ordered himself as his eyes shone with a flame that even the Demon Fox would be afraid to go near.

            Naruto, on the other hand, was like the intermediate of the two.  Like his two partners at the moment, Naruto sheltered much of the blame on his own shoulders.  Not only for allowing Sakura to be taken after she had shown him affection for the first time since, well, ever; he also felt somehow that it was _his_ fault that his other friends were taken. 

            "I let everyone down…but I'll make up for it!  I'll get them all back.  Even Kiba…well, maybe…but, maybe not. He does smell after all.  And that Shino guy…those bugs are just creepy.  But still…I'll get them back!" he assured himself.  Even in such dire straits, Naruto's spirit could not wholly be suppressed. 

            The thoughts of the three continued until Shikamaru abruptly halted to a stop, holding his hands out to the side to gesture to Naruto and Sasuke that they should stop as well. After a brief moment of pause, Shikamaru then motioned forward and to the right. Ahead, one could barely make out the silhouette of a long, dark creature; one that had been alive for quite some time.

            "What _is_ that?" said Naruto in an exclamatory whisper.   Naruto couldn't quite make out what it was, but he was sure it was something he had never seen before.  Sasuke, like usual, just turned away.  From his perspective, it was just a man-eating worm.  No more dangerous than anything else than they had encountered during their trip, and he didn't really understand the reason for stopping.  In his opinion, it would be much smarter to just continue on their sojourn.  However, he also knew that Shikamaru most likely had a good reason for stopping, and he awaited it.

            "Not _that_," Shikamaru refuted both Naruto and Sasuke's thoughts as he pointed towards the large worm.  "Just listen," he commanded, as the other two fell silent.  As they intently listened to the surroundings, a faint "hum" could be heard coming from the right, where Shikamaru had pointed in the first place.  

            "Well, what is _that_ then?" Naruto asked, still clueless.  This time though, Sasuke had pieced together the puzzle as Shikamaru had intended him to.  As they waiting in the same position for a few more seconds, the hum got progressively louder, until it sounded just like…

            "Bugs?" Naruto asked yet another question as he had received no answer for his second one, and the bugs could easily be seen.  There were 6 of them in all, and usually would go unnoticed.  However, these bugs were directly lined up, and were next to the young ninjas and didn't seem to be moving. 

            "Not just any bugs.  Look closer," stated Shikamaru.  Naruto did look closer, but he still didn't understand.  Thus, Sasuke finally piped up, as his eyesight verified what he had previously knew.

            "Those are death bugs.  The same ones that Shino uses to battle with," he pronounced.  As Naruto's dumbfounded look turned into a bit less of a dumbfounded look, but still dumbfounded all the same, Shikamaru decided to shed whole light on the situation.

            "Those are Shino's death bugs.  Have you ever heard the story of Hansel and Gretel?  It seems he has left a trail for us…a trail of bugs."

            "Hello?  Hello, is anyone there?  Anyone?"  Kakashi asked questionably into his 2-way radio.  He had told them that he would contact them…and he wasn't _too_ late.  Realizing that something must be wrong, Kakashi immediately started towards the Hokage's hut.

            Eh, it was short, but whatever.  It's late, and I have school, so ending it is a good idea if I want to update this in the first time in like 2 months….well, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll TRY MY BEST to get another chapter out soon….

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